Jealousy
by Sekiseishi
Summary: Kakashi's acting strangely and doesn't quite understand why. Maybe Iruka knows what's wrong with him. Est. rel., KakaIru


Title: Jealousy

Author: Sekiseishi

Rating: T

Pairing: Hatake Kakashi x Umino Iruka

c. Masashi Kishimoto

A/N: After a long absence I'm back! This was originally part of the drabbles, but it turned out so long that I decided to make it a one-shot instead (with the potential to become more than a one-shot). As with all my stories thus far I'm trying to take a new approach, although this one should be a little more cliched and close-to-home. You'll see. XD Happy reading!

Thanks to my lovely reviewers from the drabbles: silversilence0, k-chan the dragongirl, and TheVampireLordWillRiseAgain. And to my happy (at least I hope so) familiar faces: ZeldaFitz and EoS! This one's dedicated to you!

Sharp eyes focused on the door as a sense of foreboding fell over the once-calm mind. The other in the room tensed, sensing the disturbance as well and bracing himself.

"He's here," Kakashi whispered, standing from his chair. His fingers twitched to his shuriken holster, only to remind himself that it was still on the floor in Iruka's bedroom where it'd been thrown mere hours earlier.

Iruka backed up a step as Kakashi automatically got in front of the young teacher, ready to protect him from the danger that approached their happy home.

Silence reigned beyond the door ... until the soles of someone's shoes screeched loudly on the newly polished tile of the apartment complex's hallway. Both of the shinobi jumped as something heavy thudded against the door.

It was quiet again, lasting barely a breath before the door shuddered violently and burst open, admitting a green blur which expertly dodged Kakashi (still standing at the ready) and knocked the defenseless chuunin over.

Kakashi whirled around in time to see the blur merge to form one: Uzumaki Naruto, sitting on his lover's chest with the biggest, dumbest grin Kakashi had ever seen.

"Ne, ne," the blond bombshell chirped. "Iruka-sensei! Guess what!"

Iruka, overcoming his shock, slowly smiled and sat up, setting the small boy in his lap: "You finally beat Sasuke-kun and came here looking for a reward of ramen," he inquired, not expecting the answer to be what it was.

"Exactly," Naruto shot up in the air, pumping his fist and doing some sort of wiggle when he landed that both of the older shinobi figured to be a victory-dance. "I kicked his ass, dattebayo! I finally beat his sorry bum! He came up to me earlier and said: 'Naruto, I wish to fight you to gain honor'," here the boy did his impression of Sasuke's voice and obviously twisted the other boy's words. Or so Kakashi figured. It could very well have been something Sasuke would say. He'd check into it later. "And I said 'Yeah! If you beat me you'll gain a lot of honor, dattebayo!' And he was all like 'Let's fight' and we did! I could see his attacks coming from miles away! He was so easy to defeat this time, Iruka-sensei! It's cause he's a narcissist, dattebayo."

Iruka nodded, a giant grin that matched Naruto's spread across his face.

"From what you've told me lately, it seems Sasuke-kun has become quite infatuated with himself," the chuunin stood from his seat on the ground and dusted himself off. "Losing his focus during missions when he passes puddles and whatnot. And I'm proud that you won this match! We'll go out for ramen, if only to celebrate how far you've finally come since graduation."

Kakashi resisted the urge to roll his eyes, believing the coddling the child was receiving from /his/ Iruka was too much. Naruto was addicted to lying, especially if he got something out of it. Although Kakashi didn't doubt that Sasuke was defeated he didn't think it was in the animated and rather amusing way Naruto was now explaining to /his/ Iruka. He practically glared at the back of the blond head, willing the small boy to go away and leave himself and /his/ Iruka alone so Kakashi could take adva- have passionate sex with the chuunin until he couldn't breath.

"Ne, Iruka-sensei," the boy's whisper caught Kakashi's attention and he raised his visible eyebrow, watching the blue-eyed cretin point at him. "What's Kakashi-teme doing here?"

Iruka coughed: "Naruto, that's no way to address your teacher! Especially not when he's standing right there!"

Naruto nodded, obviously not listening to what his ex-sensei was saying: "Mmhmm, mmhmm. Whatever, sorry, Kakashi-baka-sensei."

The jounin fumed and inner Kakashi demanded retribution for being so casually addressed. By a student, no less!

"But," the boy continued: "why is he here? Does he have a date? Are you the reason he's always late? Or does he need help defeating Gai-sensei?"

Kakashi was about to respond for himself. He /did/ have a date: with a sexy brunet and a well-used bed (maybe some food stuffs, too ... in case they got hungry, of course). Iruka wasn't /always/ the reason he was late for training, but was quickly becoming a huge part of it. After all, he still visited Obito in the mornings for hours on end and lost himself down memory lane, but Iruka was fixing all that. And it'd be a good excuse so Naruto didn't go prying into his sordid past. /And/ Kakashi didn't /need/ help defeating Gai-sensei. That was a ludicrous suggestion and Naruto needed to be told so. After all, Kakashi didn't lose to Gai. ... He was giving the poor man pity points, that was all. Right, sounded convincing-

Iruka. Lovely, sexy/sexed/, wonderful, beautiful, warm, caring, smells-like-ocean/his/ Iruka cut in: "Ah, Kakashi-sensei came to help me. I wasn't feeling well last night and he stayed over to make sure I didn't die a rather ... embarrassing death. But, I'm feeling much better now and I'm sure we're all hungry, so how about we go out for that ramen?"

Naruto perked up, completely disregarding his current sensei, who was standing there in confusion, mouth agape. Not that Naruto would /know/ his mouth was wide open. He /was/ a genius and could make his open mouth look closed ... yeah, and he was wearing his mask. But all he'd caught of the statement (in his shock of being interrupted and anger at being called such ... /ruthless/ names) was something about his Iruka 'not feeling well' and 'staying over' and 'death' and 'ramen'. Which meant one of two things: Iruka didn't feel well, Kakashi was staying over, and Iruka would kill Naruto if the boy so much as asked for ramen until he felt better (which wasn't very likely, but if Iruka wasn't feeling well ... Kakashi'd been the brunt of those attacks more times than he cared to count, so he figured he was a fair judge); or: Naruto wasn't feeling well, Iruka, concerned for the child's well-being, invited him to stay over so he wouldn't catch his death and they'd all eat ramen for dinner 'cause ramen had this strange affect in Naruto and made him heal faster. He also chalked that last statement up to Kyuubi (which doesn't make much sense grammatically, unless you're a genius like Kakashi). The latter statement was actually more plausible than the first (although the first would have been preferred, since he /knew/ Iruka wasn't sick and they could still have sex) since Naruto did just get out of a fight (that he supposedly won) and would probably have gotten half his own ass handed to him despite the outcome (although Kakashi didn't see any wounds, but Iruka had more motherly intuition than he did); and it wasn't like Iruka minded Naruto staying over, or ramen (although he was sick of it) so ...

Rubbing his temples and tired of the seemingly endless sentences that invaded his thoughts, Kakashi sighed, jerking his head up when Iruka called him.

"Huh," ... no, he was still a genius.

"I said: 'Are you coming with us'," Iruka repeated his statement, worry flickering across his brown eyes.

Kakashi was tempted to say 'no'. He was /really/ tempted. Naruto looked like he had just enough energy left to piss off his current sensei until he couldn't have sex anymore. Which was a distant (but distinct) possibility. Besides, hearing more details about fighting Sasuke was sure to curb his appetite ... which would probably be a good idea to harness and sell as an appetite suppressor (of course only genius's would understand this sentence, as well). Throwing the money-making idea into the corner for the time-being, Kakashi set his sights on the cons of going.

He'd be able to keep an eye on his lover. He'd make his lover happy. He wouldn't end up at his own empty place eating something he cooked himself, nor would he stay at Iruka's and end up eating ramen alone (since the chuunin was a terrible cook, but it was cute to see him try and usually resulted in make-up sex after Kakashi said something to make his lover cry ... which was also cute and the reason he constantly poked fun at the younger man, but was also besides the point). Afterwards he'd be able to glomp and sex the brunet as much as he desired, without worrying that Iruka was still mad at him for not going and hurting Naruto's feelings ... but Naruto wouldn't matter afterwards 'cause Kakashi was already kind of horny and if he had his way he'd simply throw Naruto out the door and tie Iruka to the bedposts with that new twine he bought specifically made to be used as a bondage tool ...

He wiped imaginary drool from his face, deciding that he would go ... to make sure neither of them got hurt, not for ulterior motives involving sex.

Kakashi nodded, visible eye curving to signify that, yes, he was happy (or insane) and all was safe (or you should run screaming from the country now): "Of course I'll go. I can't /always/ miss out on the fun that is your life, Naruto. Besides, I'd like to hear the rest of this story."

The blond brightened: "Alright, dattebayo! You'll hear all the details, Kakashi-sensei! Count on it!" And his lover beamed, knowing Naruto wasn't the Sharingan-user's sole purpose for joining them.

"Um ... by the way," Kakashi nodded at the blond. "Why are you wearing a green jumpsuit? Isn't that Gai's style?"

Naruto looked down at his state of dress and looked back up to his sensei, smiling hugely: "Isn't it great?! Gai-sensei gave it to me! I've been meaning to wear it and when I put it on I defeated Sasuke!"

Kakashi hardly believed that dressing oneself was a way to win a battle, especially against Sasuke. He imagined Naruto pulling the horrible green monstrosity on and Sasuke, somewhere in Konoha, falling over: defeated. It was a terrifying scenario, but not one that was true, he was sure.

As if noticing the awful outfit for the first time, Iruka blanched, quickly covering it up with a wobbly smile plastered on his face: "Ah, it's wonderful, Naruto," he managed. "I ... it suits you so well I ... didn't notice it until now."

Naruto nodded enthusiastically, but he was enthusiastic about everything, so there was really no point in noting the obvious: "And now?! Ramen! Let's go to Ichiraku!"

Sighing, Kakashi stepped aside, allowing his lover and the brat to pass before he turned and grabbed his wallet, following them outside. Of course there was no need for locking the door. If any non-shinboi person decided to invade Iruka's private domain, Kakashi'd seen to it that they'd get a lovely welcome ... a lovely /warm/ welcome.

He chuckled at his own pun as the three went down the stairs, hoping the explosion tag didn't ruin any of Iruka's furniture if it went off.

They made it to Ichiraku without any difficulty, although the blond boy had insisted on going the long way so he'd have more time to tell his senseis about Sasuke's defeat.

Kakashi smiled a little. He had to admit, if Naruto was good at anything (besides being a ninja ... which he still had a ways to go) it was telling stories. It was no wonder that Konohamaru and his ragtag group of student monstrosities followed the Kyuubi vessel around. Good entertainment ('good' meaning 'free' here) was hard to come by lately. Of course Kakashi had no trouble in that area ...

"'You have defeated me and I have lost the respect of my deceased clan'," Kakashi held back a snort.

"You're getting better with your imitations, Naruto," he mumbled, glancing to the side in order to keep his disinterested facade. After all, he didn't want to give the boy false hope or anything. Naruto wasn't /that/ good, but it was funny as hell.

Naruto nodded solemnly as though he were agreeing with some piece of ancient wisdom: "I've been practicing. But Sasuke-kun's so easy to do-"

Iruka cleared his throat and Kakashi looked questioningly at the blush spreading across his lovers face. Re-running Naruto's last words in his head he grinned.

"He is, huh," he inquired, allowing the wolfish smile to show in his eyes. "I had no idea. It's good to know, but don't tell that to Sakura-chan. She'll have a fit."

The blond looked from him to Iruka, obviously confused.

"Ne, Iruka-sensei, why would Sakura-chan get angry? Is it because she holds Sasuke-kun in such high regard or something?"

Iruka smiled: "S-something like that."

"Naruto ... when'd you start calling Sasuke 'Sasuke-kun'," another input of Kakashi's.

The whiskered youth coughed lightly: "I-I didn't. He's Sasuke-teme. You must've heard wrong, dattebayo. You're getting old, so maybe your ears are not working right anymore."

Kakashi's smile remained firmly in place, tucking the information away for later use.

Dinner at Ichiraku rarely lasted longer than an hour or two when treating Naruto. The boy always slurped his ramen while talking, believing that multitasking was the ultimate shinobi weapon or something.

Kakashi, face hidden safely behind Iruka head while the brunet leaned over to talk to the blond bombshell, slurped his meal noisily and as quickly as he could. The owner and his daughter (the owner's, obviously, not Kakashi's) always stared at him while he ate ... it was kinda creepy, plus there were so many people always trying to sneak a peak at the Great Sharingan no Kakashi's face that he was forced to eat as quickly as possible. He had to teach himself how to not choke to death while eating out, though. It was embarrassing enough when he'd gotten a piece of teriyaki chicken caught in his throat, but he also refused help and simply put up his mask and sprinted across Konoha to the safety of his apartment where he proceeded to try and remember how to breath properly for the next twenty or so minutes.

Ramen was considerably easier to swallow than teriyaki, though, and simply required that he slurp up the noodles by swallowing around them, not inhaling. Plus it lessened the noodle splosh that Naruto freely allowed to fly everywhere, and he didn't make as much noise.

The noodles were gone faster than he thought they'd be and he licked his lips, ignoring the I'm-still-hungry burble his stomach gave. He didn't even bother looking at the two behind the counter, having memorized their expressions a year or so ago, and put his mask back on. Whatever spell the two had been put under was immediately gone and they went about their business as though nothing happened.

He touched his chin, vaguely wondering if someone cursed his face so that everyone who saw it would be unable to do anything but gawk and blush (which was /really/ creepy coming from the old man that owned the stand), but quickly discarded that thought when he reminded himself that Iruka had seen his face numerous times and, while he blushed, it wasn't always because Kakashi'd bared his features to the other. Sometimes it was a good blush. Sometimes, though, Iruka was just too busy pulling down the mask with his teeth to be awed by Kakashi's stunning good looks.

Feeling a blush spread across his now-covered face, he turned his happy eye to his lover, who was still talking to Naruto and had barely touched his own dinner.

He pouted, feeling a little left out.

"... and I was all like," Naruto continued with his story, making some sort of noise that could only be classified as 'boosh' and threw his arms out while still slurping up his helping of ramen. His third bowl, if Kakashi didn't know better.

Iruka nodded, as though agreeing with the small boy and, taking note that he was already almost done with supposed third bowl, turned to the waiting Ichiraku owner and ordered another.

He was given a nod and a smile and the elder man turned to fix the order.

Kakashi twitched. How dare he smile like that at /his/ Iruka? The chuunin was taken! He made sure everyone knew Iruka was off-limits! And yet there were still people with the absolute gall to make smiley happy, possibly suggestive faces at the brunet!

"Kakashi," Iruka's voice brought him out of his thoughts and he blinked, realizing he was halfway over the counter and reaching for his kunai. "Is ... something wrong?"

Iruka's genuine concern made almost all of Kakashi's possessive, murderous thoughts fly out the window. Of course he should have more faith in his lover, after all, Iruka wasn't about to leave the silver-haired nin for someone else if earlier that morning were any idication.

"No, no," Kakashi slunk back into his seat carefully, absently eyeing the blond peaking from around his ex-sensei. "Nothing's wrong. I was just about to-" 'Stab that geezer in the back for looking at you' "-ask for some more ramen, I'm really hungry today." 'Hungry for blood. I demand retribution! I won't be treated this way! Iruka's mine, dammit!'

He shoved an imaginary kunai in the vocal chords belonging to the vicious little voice in his head.

"I ... I see," Iruka wasn't convinced. He knew Kakashi was about to slice open the stand owner's neck. "Maybe we'll call it a day early, hmm?"

Kakashi slumped, ashamed of his reaction: "I'm sorry," he mumbled so only Iruka could hear.

Iruka nodded, brows creased in worry as he turned back to his surrogate son: "Naruto, it seems Kakashi may have caught whatever I had. I'm sorry, but we'll have to finish up now so I can get him to bed."

This time, Iruka's words didn't cause any positive reaction from the jounin. He was actually sorry to hear them come from his lover's mouth, especially since they meant he probably wouldn't get any loving for the remainder of the evening.

Naruto nodded: "Sure. I understand, dattebayo. I should probably get going, too. Sasuke-teme might want a rematch and I have to be prepared."

For someone who could be so incredibly dense and naive, Naruto sure knew how to take a hint when he was given one. Kakashi gave the child bonus points for that and slid off his stool, already out from under the tarp before Iruka was done paying.

'Crap, and I'm letting him pay,' he berated himself, ducking back under to take care of the bill himself. The Ichiraku owner smiled brightly at his most famous and regular customers, accepting Kakashi's payment over Iruka's. 'What kind of jerk am I? He knows we're together and he's not stupid enough to try and take Iruka from me.'

They walked home, mostly in silence. Kakashi knew Iruka's 'I'm deep in thought, do not disturb' signs well enough to know the chuunin needed to think.

Stepping up the stone stairs leading to Kakashi's apartment, Iruka paused just before the door and turned to his lover.

"Kakashi, what happened at Ichiraku," he asked quietly.

While Kakashi would like nothing more than to go inside and discuss it, both knew that he thought clearer when he was outside. Since it was more open and all ... or so he figured. Probably because he was used to being in the open and he had to think quickly and efficiently if he didn't want to end up with a weapon through his gut.

Of course, the problem with discussing such matters outside was obvious: someone might overhear. And, if that someone happened to be an enemy, any information (especially this kind) could and probably would be used against him in any upcoming fight. And, if he and Iruka stood outside too long rumors might start (not that there wasn't already a plethora of rumors circulating the entirety of Konoha, but still). /And/ not to mention, if there was a strong enemy nearby (who was masterfully masking their chakra level to seem like just another Average-Joe shinobi) they could be killed on the spot and left for Kakashi's poor old neighbor (who's name was Kaori and she bordered on eighty or something, but her pet cat was a pain) to find, she'd die and he'd never be able to rest in peace. Kakashi didn't like the thought of roaming around as a ghost for the rest of eternity. No, he didn't.

"Um ... can I say it's nothing and you can pretend you agree with me," he inquired.

The look Iruka gave him was a blatant enough answer and the jounin sighed: "I don't know. The way he looked at you just ... set me off."

"Look? What look," Iruka thought back to when he'd ordered another bowl for Naruto. "The smile? He was being friendly."

"I know, I know," Kakashi shuffled his feet, like a child being scolded. "Maybe I've had too many missions. I dunno. It just reminded me of some evil guy gloating his victory over me, which happens too often for my liking, after he's defeated me using some horde of vicious monstrosities that call themselves 'shinobi'. Like he's about to take something precious from me. I don't like that look. I don't like that smile."

The brunet smiled, cupping Kakashi's masked face and lifted it so their eyes could meet: "Like I'd let anyone, friend or foe, take me away from you. Or you away from me. One: it's not gonna happen. Two: he didn't have that smile. You're just replacing the friendly expression he gave me with an evil one someone gave you ..."

Iruka cut himself off, suddenly paling: "Kakashi ... did someone try and use me against you on a mission? Do enemies know about us?"

The smaller man started to draw in on himself, ready to leave forever if need be, and his hand fell from the blue-eyed man's face.

Kakashi caught the hand, bringing it to his covered lips: "No. No one used you against me. No one but our friends know about us. Our friends that both of us trust indefinitely. I promise, nothing like that happened."

Iruka visibly relaxed and Kakashi smiled, knowing the worry was gone and they could /finally/ go inside.

After the door was closed and both men were barefoot and lounging on the couch, Iruka spoke again, this time completely relaxed.

"I think I know why you did that," he said.

Kakashi didn't ask, he already knew, and listened intently. Any answer would assure that he wasn't just trying to kill random people for looking at his Iruka.

"You're jealous."

Well ... almost any answer.

"Ah ... perhaps a bit too much," he said, slumping. Being a shinobi he couldn't afford running around killing the people he'd sworn to protect. It didn't look good, especially not on a resume.

'Seeking job! Shinobi with experience! I was fired because I killed the people who I'd nearly given my life for numerous times when they looked at my boyfriend. Plz hire me!'

Well ... Akatsuki might accept him. And from what he heard, they weren't as many shinobi strong as they had been. (Yes, this is another of those genius sentences.)

"No, it's pretty normal for people like us," Iruka said, slouching back into the couch. "I've gotten urges like that several times since we've been together."

"Much as you're hesitant to admit, right," Kakashi said sarcastically.

"Not, not hesitant. I'm honest," the brunet smiled brightly at his couch partner. "Besides, there's a simple remedy to this."

"Oh, what's that?"

"Love making."

"Sex?"

"No, love making."

"Right. Sex."

"..."

"What?"

"You know, for a genius, you're pretty dense."

"I am?"

Iruka sighed, chuckling lightly: "Making love is different than sex. The same principals are involved, yes, but it's more emotional."

"So ... you want us to cry while having sex?"

"No ... emotion. Love, for instance. Sex is clingy and needy. It's a primitive act that's based on pure physical sensation. Making love is what ... what 'lovers' do. It's not sex for the sake of sex. It's sex to show how much you love someone."

"... You're a good teacher. Did you read that in a text book," Kakashi inquired, reaching out to grab the chuunin.

Iruka 'eep'ed as he was pulled into the others lap, melting as skilled fingers began massaging his back and shoulders: "No, it's common sense. Which you don't seem to have much of."

"Keep insulting me and I won't finish this back rub," Kakashi threatened, smirking as the chuunin moaned.

"Why the sudden urge to give me one? Normally you tell me before you start something like this," Iruka sighed. "Not that I'm complaining."

"It's a prelude to emotional sex! I don't wanna end up killing someone because they shake hands with you or something. That just wouldn't be right," he said, freeing a hand to pull down his mask.

Iruka shivered as lips found his neck: "No, it wouldn't."

"Still able to comprehend," Kakashi inquired, nuzzling Iruka's shoulder. "I'll have to fix that."

A/N: Yeah, no sex. Not in the ff version, at least. -evil smirk- If you want sex, you'll have to wait until the NC-17 version comes out on mediaminer (dot) org and adultfanfiction (dot) net. For the latter you'll need to give your signature, or something. I don't remember what it's called. So, like it? Love it? No haters, please. Constructive criticism welcome, squees of happiness are coddled, and words of encouragement are loved. After all, who said one-shots need to stay one-shots. -hint hint-

Btw: I know the last part was kinda strange. Kakashi obviously knows the difference between outright 'sex' and 'love making'. He's just playing here. n-n Just wanted to clear that up. Love to you all!


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